Premier League Ponderings – Week 21
Saints Still Marching On
You’ve gotta hand it to Southampton, man. People keep writing them off, asking how long can they keep it up, and they just keep on keeping it up. To the point where, yeah, Saints fans are right, it is getting patronising. This team is possibly the fifth best team in the League and definitely in the top seven (Tier 1: Chelsea & City – 2: United & Arsenal – 3: Southampton, Spurs & Liverpool).
They didn’t beat Manchester United by outplaying them. They beat them by defending with superb structure and application and eventually capitalising on a dumb mistake. I don’t think if Luke Shaw had still been on the park that the goal would have been scored. There was messy stuff all around but it was the timidity of Tyler Blackett that set it up.
Despite the press takes, United created a few great chances after that. Three superb ones in fact… but they all fell to Juan Mata who couldn’t finish. Southampton deserved it though. They weren't the better team but they deserved it, if that makes sense. The back four were incredibly productive but it was the midfield wall that really bossed it. Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama were immense, breaking up everything.
Angel Di Maria is a very direct player. He’ll turn down a pass to take a shot from distance. He’ll dribble through when others would stop and pass backwards. He rarely takes the safe option when given a choice. That’s important to this United team because there aren’t too many other direct players in that line-up. He brings an impetus to a team that struggles to create chances without him. The flipside of that is that on a day like this where Di Maria simply doesn’t have it, he’s gonna be a roadblock and too many attacks with die from his left boot.
The weird thing is that when he was subbed off, the strategy became: ‘Lump the ball to Marouane Fellaini’. It was like David Moyes all over again, albeit with a little more fluidity. Hmmm.
The best part of Southampton’s revival is that now they’re getting points off teams above them – which was their weakness before. A hot start was mashed when they lost four straight games near the end of last year, only to now bounce back with wins against Arsenal and Manchester United. Those are some quickly learned lessons from Ronald Koeman, who is doing a superb job managing this side.
Though you do wonder if they can keep it up if Schneiderlin goes. Remember the time he spent injured almost perfectly coincided with their losing streak (granted, they did beat Arsenal while he was suspended recently).
By the way, Southampton? They’re now higher on the table than every player (and a manager) that they lost in the offseason. Luke Shaw was the last pin to fall.
Who Wore It Better?
City’s Bony
It’s pretty much a certain thing that Wilfried Bony is signing for Manchester City… possibly even by the time you’re reading this. £30m is what I last heard quoted. Here’s the thing about that:
A – The money doesn’t matter. They’ll pay whatever they have to and they can afford it. No worries. People will try to judge him based on his transfer fee but that’s not how it should work. The fees are based on whatever the club can leverage him for – if there were balanced, comparable market values for players than you could care about prices. But there ain’t, so don’t.
B – I really, really like the deal. Some don’t like the thought of City buying a target man forward to play in front of a very indirect midfield, because he isn’t gonna fit with their style of play. I disagree, I think they just don’t have a player to fill that role yet and that’s why they don’t ever play the target man strategy. As I see it, you give guys like David Silva, Samir Nasri and even Sergio Aguero an anchor to their attacking moves which will probably only make them even more potent.
C – To paraphrase a great film, for Swansea this was an offer they couldn’t refuse. Especially not when they have Bony 2.0 already to replace him in Bafetimbi Gomis (bought basically for that exact reason too – Bony transfer rumours are not a new thing).
Other Ponderings
Arsenals fans complaining about their transfer failings after they’ve recently signed Alexis Sanchez. Go figure. It’s getting frustrating how people seem to just appear from nowhere to abuse Wenger as soon as Arsenal eventually lose. Yet after a game like that against Stoke there’s an eerie silence. Buck the trend, Gunners Fans! Go crazy for the wins and ignore the losses.
By the way, a fit Laurent Koscielny and the defensive issues don’t seem as bad. Though the real test is the trip to Manchester City next up.
Just on Sanchez, he’s fourth on the Premier League scorers’ chart and has 18 goals in all competitions.
Chelsea fans: How much do you savour the routine wins? They’re boring but they win titles.
It feels like forever since Manchester United ground out an easy win like that. All of our wins have been fortunate under-performances or dominant efforts marred by injuries and sloppy defence. Eh, we’re still in fourth.
There are few thing that old, white Englishmen like better than moaning about young footballers these days are how they ain‘t hard, tough, dedicated or passionate enough. “Back in my day…”
And yet while Liverpool were battling away to a win, Raheem Sterling was sunning on the beach in Jamaica. There was that thing about him skipping an England game for exhaustion earlier in the season and it’s no secret that he’s a young player with an extreme burden on him. Still, you don’t wanna be getting a reputation, ask Wayne Rooney.
Are Everton figuring it out? Are Burnley and Leicester figuring it out? Will Arry Redknapp ever figure it out? Man, somebody’s gotta get relegated.
Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew both get wins from their first Premier League games for their new clubs. It always seems to happen that way.
Harry Kane is legit. I didn’t think so a month or so ago but that haul against Chelsea was a real milestone. He’s confident and confidence is everything for a striker. It’s the difference between getting that jump on the defender or not, between a ball cannoning off the post or nestling in the bottom corner, between a perfect first touch or a poor one. The talent comes second. That’s why the very best goal scorers on the planet, guys like Ronaldo/Messi, Zlatan, etc. always seem confident almost to the point of arrogance (and far beyond in Zlatan’s case).
Yeah, but Spurs lost to Crystal Palace. Except for the top two, every other team seem bound to the ‘two steps forward, one step back’ rule.